Killala businesswoman volunteers to work in Sierra Leone

Audrey, a native of Co Louth, is an External Affairs and Communcaitons executive with Ballina Beverages in Ballina, part of the Coca Cola corporation.

Having departed in June 2011, Audrey took up a challenging 1-year placement in Sierra Leone.  Now she is working as a Business Services Development Adviser with a local organisation called AFFORD that promotes employment by supporting small businesses. 

During her time in Africa Audrey will be imparting crucially needed knowledge to businesses in Sierra Leone, and will thus play a major role in developing its economy, which has been devastated by numerous conflicts in recent years.

Audrey has been recruited by VSO, Voluntary Service Overseas.  The charity has seen a steady flow of applications from Irish professionals looking to volunteer in the past two years, but stresses the need for experienced people. 
The average age of a VSO volunteer is 42.   VSO wants to remind professionals that volunteering won’t affect their income or career prospects, as costs are covered.

Today Malcolm Quigley, Director of VSO Ireland, said: “VSO needs motivated people like Audrey to work overseas on sustainable volunteer programmes.  In developing countries such as Sierra Leone, some people are living on just $2 a day.  Things we take for granted, like health and education services, are hard to access for marginalised people. 
VSO supports volunteers with a local salary and puts safety first.  We would encourage anybody thinking about doing VSO to contact us today.”

VSO has been recruiting volunteers since 1958.  It is an international development charity that sends volunteers overseas to work in partnership with local NGOs.  Today there are over 1,600 international VSO volunteers working in 46 countries globally.  Most volunteers are skilled professionals from the education, health and business sectors.